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Course Overview

Course Overview

Our course enables you to enhance and develop your management skills, so you can navigate the music industry better and capitalise on career opportunities in the music and creative industries. It provides a comprehensive and complementary educational and practical experience, combining postgraduate research with the most up to date management practice.

Throughout the course you explore the fundamentals underpinning successful management practice. This includes management theory, artist and product development, entrepreneurship, organisational structures and behaviours, new music business models, music streaming metrics and data insights that inform business decision making.

The curriculum promotes and supports real-world industry engagement and research through career-led practical project work that contributes to your ongoing professional development and personal career planning.

Course Highlights

Course Highlights

  • Real-world industry engagement via personal, distinct practical project work that is career led and tailored to your own goals.
  • Combination of understanding sound management principles and gaining practical academic research skills in contemporary music management.
  • Collaboration with industry professional mentors working on your own project.
  • Practice led MA taught by practice led researcher practitioners.

What You Will

Study

  • Year 1
  • Student

    stories

    "I could tailor this course to my needs and career goals through the practice-based research. For me personally, while I was working on developing my technical skills to create a portfolio, I was researching the industry through books, interviews, and case studies. So now I have contacts, and a 360 view to the career."

    Mayassa Dib - Music creator and manager (Graduated 2024)

    Mayassa Dib Quote Icon
  • Student

    stories

    "It has been an incredible experience studying for the MA. The course has been extremely flexible in that I have been able to adapt and frame the modules to my own professional needs. Over the course of the year, I have learnt more about the industry, test marketed my own business and worked on myself as an artist. There is a strong focus on linking and applying everything that is studied to your career moving forward and coming out of the Masters I am much more knowledgeable and confident."

    Matt Dacombe - (Current Student)

    Matt Dacombe Quote Icon

How You Will

Study

  • Lectures
    Lectures
  • Seminars
    Seminars
  • Workshops
    Workshops
  • Class presentations and discussions
    Class presentations and discussions
  • Independent study
    Independent study
  • Mentoring
    Mentoring
  • Supervisions
    Supervisions
  • Guest Lecturers
    Guest Lecturers
  • Masterclass
    Masterclass

How You Will Be

Assessed

The course employs a number of relevant assessment strategies: essays, reports, feasibility studies, evaluative presentations, portfolios, symposium, plus the option of a practice-led dissertation or written dissertation You are introduced to the principles of documentation and evidence recording in the performing arts so that any insights gained from the embodiment of ideas in practice can be supported or illustrated by data. The course culminates in student led practice based, or research dissertation which require the asking of contemporary key questions.

Practical/written work ratio

50% practical work / 50% reflective work

Alternative formats for written/ reflective work include, evaluative presentations, portfolios, videos blogs, journals.

What Our

Graduates Do

Whether you wish to run your own business or work within a music company, the industry knowledge, business understanding and practical skills that you gain from completing this course will provide you with a solid foundation for advancing your music management career. Graduates from this course will be well equipped to succeed in such areas as artist management, music publishing, music recording, tour management, catalogue exploitation, digital marketing and the live music industry.

Ever wondered what our MA Music Industry Management is all about?

MA Music Industry Management Course Leader Keith Mullin and lecturer Eva Petersen explain the teaching behind the title. You will find out what the course entails, whether it suits your professional ambitions and what kind of student benefits from the course. Take a look.

Related

News

Winter/Spring season of public performances
19 Jan 2026

Winter/Spring season of public performances

LIPA Companion Sita McIntosh named in Stage 100
18 Jan 2026

LIPA Companion Sita McIntosh named in Stage 100

Management graduate Liam McMullan joins The Stage 100
15 Jan 2026

Management graduate Liam McMullan joins The Stage 100

Gallery: Term one productions 2025/26
17 Dec 2025

Gallery: Term one productions 2025/26

A busy and creative Christmas for LIPA grads
15 Dec 2025

A busy and creative Christmas for LIPA grads

LIPA secures £2.5m Office for Students capital funding to deliver new performance and digital innovation hub
18 Nov 2025

LIPA secures £2.5m Office for Students capital funding to deliver new performance and digital innovation hub

Bruce Springsteen Q&A: ‘Always bet on yourself’
04 Nov 2025

Bruce Springsteen Q&A: ‘Always bet on yourself’

LIPA and Sefton Council join forces to bring fresh creative energy to Salt and Tar
31 Oct 2025

LIPA and Sefton Council join forces to bring fresh creative energy to Salt and Tar

LIPA named a Billboard Top Music Business School for a fifth consecutive time
30 Oct 2025

LIPA named a Billboard Top Music Business School for a fifth consecutive time

Masterclass helps Management students understand the power of metadata
10 Oct 2025

Masterclass helps Management students understand the power of metadata

Autumn/Winter Season of public performances
02 Oct 2025

Autumn/Winter Season of public performances

LIPA graduate elected as president of Oscars organisation
08 Aug 2025

LIPA graduate elected as president of Oscars organisation

LIPA achieves major milestone: new degree awarding powers
07 Aug 2025

LIPA achieves major milestone: new degree awarding powers

Gallery: Graduation 2025
31 Jul 2025

Gallery: Graduation 2025

Sir Paul McCartney honours leading arts figures at LIPA graduation
30 Jul 2025

Sir Paul McCartney honours leading arts figures at LIPA graduation

LIPA grads and students head to Edinburgh Fringe
18 Jul 2025

LIPA grads and students head to Edinburgh Fringe

LIPA’s festival of new music to showcase 60 artists
02 Apr 2025

LIPA’s festival of new music to showcase 60 artists

Watch: TikTok A&R and Management grad Josh Mateer returns for Q&A
18 Mar 2025

Watch: TikTok A&R and Management grad Josh Mateer returns for Q&A

Practice-led research: ‘Theory and practice are mutually intertwined not mutually exclusive’
16 Jan 2025

Practice-led research: ‘Theory and practice are mutually intertwined not mutually exclusive’

LIPA grads get creative for Christmas
17 Dec 2024

LIPA grads get creative for Christmas

Gallery: LIPA Christmas Concert
16 Dec 2024

Gallery: LIPA Christmas Concert

Jamie Webster and Alfie Skelly take a deep dive into the artist-manager relationship
02 Dec 2024

Jamie Webster and Alfie Skelly take a deep dive into the artist-manager relationship

LIPA part of £7m boost for Liverpool’s music scene
27 Nov 2024

LIPA part of £7m boost for Liverpool’s music scene

LIPA named as a top music business school 2024 by Billboard
05 Nov 2024

LIPA named as a top music business school 2024 by Billboard

Management student’s Liverpool Everyman production
02 Oct 2024

Management student’s Liverpool Everyman production

‘Films have a way of finding you out’ - Sir Sam Mendes at LIPA
25 Sept 2024

‘Films have a way of finding you out’ - Sir Sam Mendes at LIPA

LIPA shortlisted for environmental award
10 Sept 2024

LIPA shortlisted for environmental award

LIPA grads and students at Edinburgh Fringe
08 Aug 2024

LIPA grads and students at Edinburgh Fringe

Gallery: Graduation 2024
05 Aug 2024

Gallery: Graduation 2024

Profile: Elliot Callard - marketing executive, Rambert
05 Aug 2024

Profile: Elliot Callard - marketing executive, Rambert

Award-winning LIPA grad honoured by Sir Paul McCartney
30 Jul 2024

Award-winning LIPA grad honoured by Sir Paul McCartney

WATCH: 2ube Xtra - LIPA’s student run music festival
27 Jun 2024

WATCH: 2ube Xtra - LIPA’s student run music festival

LIPA supports Africa Oyé
19 Jun 2024

LIPA supports Africa Oyé

Gallery: LIPA students take part in Queen Anne naming ceremony
13 Jun 2024

Gallery: LIPA students take part in Queen Anne naming ceremony

Twelve day music festival showcases LIPA students
25 Apr 2024

Twelve day music festival showcases LIPA students

Entry

Requirements

You are expected to have a good degree (2:1 or above) in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience

You are expected to have a good degree (2:1 or above) in a relevant discipline or equivalent professional experience. International students also need to meet our English Language requirements of 5.5 overall score for IELTS, with a minimum of 5.5 for each of the 4 individual components (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening). Other equivalent English language examinations will be considered. You can find out more about English Language requirements here

Educational qualifications are important but limited in what they can tell us about you.

Your natural ability, your fit with what and how we teach, your growth and your potential are also key factors in our admission process. We can’t evaluate these solely on your educational achievements, so no matter which course you are applying for, we look for the following attributes on your application and at the interview stage.

Key

Attributes

1

Knowledge, Ability and Experience

We would welcome individuals currently working in the industry who want to engage in advanced professional development or graduates from cognate areas who wish to specialise and launch a music industry career. We’d like you to have some experience in working across the broad music industry. If you have experience in rights management, artist management, live events or music marketing we’d be interested to know about this, although it’s not essential for entry on to the course.

2

Commitment

We want to know how you have pursued your music industry career and continued to develop your skills throughout. If you are applying to us directly from an undergraduate course, we are interested in how you have been preparing for your future professional career and any relevant experience outside of your course. If you do not have a degree, we want to hear what you have done which demonstrates a depth of knowledge and experience in the music industry that has prepared you for postgraduate study.

3

Ability To Work Effectively with Others

You’ll be working collaboratively on complex projects, often under pressure. Along with your fellow music industry management students, you’ll work with students from other disciplines, teachers and industry professionals. We want to see that you are able to communicate ideas, respond to feedback thoughtfully and can provide critically informed and considered feedback.     

4

Broad Interest and Engagement

We look for evidence that you have a natural curiosity and interest in the world around you and are able to draw from a wide range of experiences and influences. We want to see that you are prepared to embrace all of the opportunities that we offer on this course and more broadly within the Institution.

5

Self-Awareness

We’d like to know why you’re applying to us and how you think this course will support your development and contribute to your specific career goals. We’d like to see that you have a firm understanding of your strengths and weaknesses, in terms of your professional persona, technical ability and developing your career.

6

A Spirit of Enterprise

We want to see how you have used your own initiative to create opportunities that have allowed you to further yourself. To some extent, this may have been through work on your undergraduate course, but we would especially like to see that you have worked on independent creative projects outside of any training you may have undertaken.

  • "It is essential to have a forward-thinking approach to educating the next generation as to the ever-changing landscape of the Music Industry and the role of management within that. That is what sets the MA Music Industry Management course in LIPA apart from so many other courses. This is the real deal and works on many levels to ensure those who are enrolled get the best chance of succeeding in this evolving industry"

    Yaw Owusu
    THE PLAYMAKER GROUP and Liverpool International Music Festival

    Yaw Owusu Quote Icon

View the programme specification on LIPA's course catalogue